National Guard Units Captured by Japan

Below are the National Guard Units captured on Bataan and Java in the first months of World War II. Each Unit is matched with its current Congressman/woman. A majority of the American POWs of Japan were from these battalions.

UPDATE: As of July 21, 2011, only two of these Congressmen, Ben Chandler (KY-6-D) and Martin Heinrich (NM-1-D) have signed on as co-sponsors of H. Res. 333 (*). Paul Ryan (WI-1-R) became a cosponsor on September 14, 2011 and Sam Farr (D-CA) on November 30, 2011. Steve Pearce became a co-sponsor December 9, 2011.

Captured on the Philippines (Bataan Death March)
>192nd Tank Battalion (Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin) Activated: November 25, 1940 Sent to Philippines: October 24, 1941

CONGRESSMEN (as of Summer 2011):
*Company A: PAUL RYAN (WI-1-R) [co-sponsor 9/14/11]
Company B: Danny Davis (IL-7-D)
Company C: Marcy Kaptur (OH- 9-D)
*Company D: BEN CHANDLER (KY-6-D)

Resources
The Origin of Bataan Day
Maywood Bataan Day Organization
Proviso East High Bataan Commemorative Research Project; Maywood, IL
National Guard History eMuseum; Kentucky Guardsmen of the 192nd Tank Bn
Company C, 192nd Tank Battalion, Port Clinton, OH


>194th Tank Battalion (Minnesota, Missouri, California) Activated: February 10, 1941 Sent to Philippines: September 8, 1941

CONGRESSMEN (as of Summer 2011):
Company A: Chip Cravaack (MN-8-R)
Company B: Wm. Lacy Clay (MO-1-D)
*Company C: SAM FARR (CA-17-D) [co-sponsor 11/30/11]


Resources
A History of the Salinas National Guard Company 1895-1995
California Militia and National Guard Unit Histories; Company C, 194th Tank Bn


>200th Coast Artillery (New Mexico) Activated: January 6, 1941 Sent to Philippines: August 17, 1941

CONGRESSMEN (as of Summer 2011):
*Troop A: MARTIN HEINRICH (NM-1-D)
Troop B: STEVAB PEARCE (NM-2-R)

Resources
A Brief History of the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery
The Bataan Corregidor Memorial Foundation of New Mexico
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The 200th Coast Artillery (AA) - (12/8/1941)


Captured on Java (“The Lost Battalion,” USS Houston, and labor on the Thai-Burma Death Railway)
>2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Battalion (Texas) Activated: November 25, 1940 Sent to Pearl Harbor: November 21, 1941, Sent to Java: November 28, 1941 (diverted to Java, instead of the Philippines after Pearl Harbor)

CONGRESSMEN (as of Summer 2011):
Battery A: Charles A. Gonzalez (TX-20-D)
Battery B: Mac Thornberry (TX-13-R)
Battery C: K. Michael Conaway (TX-11-R)

Resources
2nd Bn, 131st Field Artillery, USS Houston; HISTORY Of THE LOST BN
Book Review: Kelly E. Crager. Hell under the Rising Sun: Texan POWs and the Building of the Burma Thailand Death Railway
USS Houston
USS Houston Memorial Site